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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29304615">Into The Nest Again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zai42/pseuds/Zai42'>Zai42</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Heart of Aphrodite 2021 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Final Battle, Gen, Healing, Temporary Character Death, The Heart of Aphrodite 2021, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:53:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>507</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29304615</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zai42/pseuds/Zai42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Carter always knew he would return to London, someday - he just didn't imagine it like this.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Azu &amp; Howard Carter (Rusty Quill Gaming)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Heart of Aphrodite 2021 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151312</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>The Heart of Aphrodite</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Into The Nest Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Somewhere in the back of Carter’s mind, returning to London had always been inevitable. He’d just envisioned it more like returning home a conquering hero than like... like this. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He slips through the rubble, blood dripping into his eyes from somewhere, some gushing wound hidden by his hair. It’s bleeding worse than it is, as head wounds tended to. He hopes, anyway. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t know where the others have gotten to. Judging by the way the creepy blue monsters had folded their legs and sat down in apparent surrender, and the howling scream that Carter fiercely hopes was a dragon dying a</span>
  <em>
    <span> very </span>
  </em>
  <span>painful death, they’ve - won seems optimistic, and yet. Maybe Zolf’s stubborn hope is rubbing off on him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So now he’s scrambling through the ruins of London, trying to find </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone,</span>
  </em>
  <span> eyes scanning the darkened alleyways for a glimmer of Hamid’s scales, or a flash of white hair or - </span>
  <em>
    <span>there.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The pink armor is battered and dull, but still unmistakable, still a bit of warmth in the dank wreck of the city. Carter staggers to his knees, grasping Azu’s shoulders and turning her onto her back, then letting out a shuddering breath as he realizes the extent of the battering she had taken. “Oh,” she says, with a voice that suggested she was perhaps too far gone to realize the pain she should rightfully be in. “Hello, Howard.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her chest piece had been caved in along with, it looks like, most of her chest. Carter thinks he sees glimpses of bone beneath the mess of gore. “Oh no,” he says. “Oh, no no no.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s alright,” Azu murmurs, closing her eyes. “Shh.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, don’t - don’t close your eyes,” Carter babbles. She opens them, looks at him like she’s indulging him in one last favor. “You - you can get up, we’ll get Zolf, he’ll - Azu, he’s going to fix you, I can’t carry you but you can get up, you can heal yourself enough to </span>
  <em>
    <span>get up - ”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She pats vaguely at his hand where he’s pressed it futilely against her ruined, ragged armor. Her lips form words; Carter leans in closer, trying to make out what she’s saying, but he only feels a soft wheeze against his cheek. When he pulls back, her eyes are empty. “No,” he says. “No, don’t - ” There’s something warm beneath his gore-slicked fingers, and he gently pulls Azu’s necklace free, trying to wipe it clean of blood, trying to ignore how it stuck. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You,” he says accusingly. “You - she’s your favorite, right? You can fix her, can’t you? Look, you - you like love, don’t you? She’s my </span>
  <em>
    <span>friend,</span>
  </em>
  <span> I - isn’t that enough?” He splays his hands over the crushed breastplate; the edges of it slice into his palms and he ignores it. “Use that. Use me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t expect it to work. Certainly doesn’t expect the distant chuckle in his ear or the sudden flood of warmth beneath his hand. “Fine,” a voice murmurs. “But you owe me, Howard Carter.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And beneath his palm, he feels Azu take a shuddering breath. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And that's how Carter ended up accidentally multiclassing as a cleric of Aphrodite.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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